These are part of the well-known appeal of Palm Springs, but there’s more than that on display during Modernism Week, the city’s winter tourist event. It’s a major attraction that last year brought in 127,000 visitors.

This year, the more than 7-day Week runs Feb. 14-24 with a special focus on outdoor living.

Modernism Week is sort of like Comic-Con for fans of mid-century modern, a design movement in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s that has become hip again. It thrived in the desert, where celebrities like Frank Sinatra built getaways, leaving behind many well-preserved homes by leading architects.

“What they basically did was come to the desert and look at building materials that were used in a very different sense here than they were anywhere else,” said William Kopelk, chairman of the board for Modernism Week.

“A lot of times, you might use perforated concrete block or steel or things like that and then cover them with other materials. Here, it’s really the purity of the material itself that’s celebrated.”

Garden tours are a popular feature of Modernism Week in Palm Springs. (David A. Lee, courtesy of Modernism Week)

Kopelk is a landscape architect whose work has helped to preserve mid-century modern structures, including the Ace Hotel & Swim Club on East Palm Canyon Drive, which was adapted from a Westward Ho motel and a Denny’s restaurant.

Landscape architecture is an important element of mid-century modern in the desert, he said in a phone interview.

“Because of the climate, it promoted outdoor living, things like flat roofs and large expanses of glass. And things like swimming pools and firepits.”

Modernism Week has 383 events this year, Kopelk said, but many of them are already sold out, including almost every tour related to Sinatra.

“People book early and people are excited and we have a continuing audience that comes back as well as a new audience. So we try to offer the perennial favorites as well as mix it up with brand-new events and lectures.”

Those perennials include home tours and double-decker bus tours. There are more than 80 this year.

Modernism week appeals to more than home and garden enthusiasts.

“Basically the two words that define Modernism Week are education and entertainment,” Kopelk said.

In addition to the tours and lectures, events include movies, concerts, and theatrical events.

“The Princes of Kings Road”: A 2015 play by Tom Lazarus about two Modernist architects, Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra, their estrangement, and how they come together in later life. Feb. 16-18, Annenberg Theater. $45, $65.

Fielding Buck has been a business reporter since 2014 with a focus on logistics, supply chain and GIS. Prior experience includes extensive entertainment reporting. He loves photography and dogs and lives in San Bernardino County.